


the noise you made at 3am

by zerogravity (ofthreeblades)



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Annoying Neighbor AU, ChemistryTeacher!Kuroo, Fluff, GameDeveloper!Kenma, KuroKen Week 2017, Kuroo fell in love in a coffee shop, Kuroo is a nerd I am so sorry I couldn't balance the nerd and sex god, M/M, No Explicit Sexual Content, dumb pick up lines, side bokuaka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-03
Updated: 2017-12-17
Packaged: 2019-02-09 20:58:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12896682
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ofthreeblades/pseuds/zerogravity
Summary: Kuroo moves to the same apartment complex as his best friend and is ready to live his best life, if only he could get enough sleep.orKuroo gets woken up by a weird noise at 3 in the morning.





	1. apple of my eye

_“Fuck!”_  

Kuroo woke up, startled.  _What the fuck?_ _At three in the morning,_ _really?_ He placed his ear against the wall, not because he was particularly interested mind you, but because he truly was wondering who the  _hell_  would be awake at three in the morning, on a Monday night no less. He heard a grunt this time, and he could feel the tips of his ears turn red.  _N_ _o way_ _, it better not be what I believe it is, besides_ _,_ _wh_ _at_ _the h_ _ell am I getting red_ _for?!_  

It was so quiet now that Kuroo could swear the people on the other side of the wall could hear his thoughts. Soon enough though, he heard a distinctive sound; you know,  _that_ one. That particular noise game controllers make when you are playing video games quite passionately? It was followed by a loud annoyed sigh, and then the embarrassing realization that no, the wall neighbor was in fact not engaging in any kind of extreme activities, they were  _just_  playing video games.  

“God, why am I like this?”, Kuroo whispered to himself. He could already hear the mocking voice of his best friend when he told him the whole story tomorrow. He laid down once again, this time putting his two pillows against his ears; he hoped that maybe,  _just_ _maybe_ , they would be enough to help him ignore the grunts and other noises the neighbor would make every thirty seconds. Not that he was affected by them or something  _duh,_ it was obviously because it was three in the  _damn_  morning, and he had to wake up in about three hours. Thus, him covering his ears?  _Totally a sleep thing._ Right before he fell asleep in that quirky way of his, the vision that his bed hair the next morning was going to be entered his thoughts, which only accentuated the fact that yes, Bo was going to mock him the entire morning, but you know what else entered his mind? The sweet sweet release of sleep, and within seconds, he was under. 

“NO FUCKING WAY! Kuroo Tetsurou, you have got to be kidding me! You’re telling me that  _you_ , Mr. Hot Chemistry Teacher, heard someone grunting and the first explanation your brain thought of was  _that?_  Man, moving out of your parent’s house must really lower the inhibitions and make people that horny I guess." They were walking down the street towards the small little coffee shop at the end of the block, their breaths visible every time they talked. Bo kept going on and on, and Kuroo was thankful no one else seemed to be crazy enough to be out so early in the morning. If that had been the case, he was pretty sure he would've been extremely thankful it was freezing, because then he could blame the cold for his red cheeks instead of the conversation. They were almost to the outdoor tables, when Kuroo had had enough of Bokuto’s teasing and was about to retort something back when he decided that while he was going to have his revenge, this wasn’t the right time for it. How did the saying go? Oh yeah, “he who laughs last, laughs best” and so, he playfully pushed Bo, while already scheming his revenge. 

Opening up the door of the quaint little coffee shop, with its big windows and brick façade, Kuroo snuck a glance at Bokuto, if only just to tease him for his look of adoration directed at Akaashi, who worked as a barista. They had met at this exact cafe, while Bokuto had been sporting a really terrible headache after a night out with friends, and Bo had stopped mid-ordering with a dumb look on his face and an even dumber pick up line. How that had worked in his favor, Kuroo would never know, but it had been two years since, and the rest? Well, the rest was history, as anyone could obviously see.  

There were days when he felt envious of them, of how well they worked. They just seemed so in sync, and Kuroo’s bad luck in partners didn’t help a thing. He had had many partners throughout his life, yet it always came down to the same old, same old; “I never see you," “you rarely have time for me," “shouldn’t I always come first?” Be it because of volleyball, teaching, or even worse  _both_ , Kuroo could never catch a break. You’d think that people would understand that he had a life outside a relationship, such as helping his old coach teach volleyball to middle schoolers on the weekends, or later on, coaching the high school’s boys' volleyball team, yet they never seemed to believe him. “Aren’t you too young for that?” a question he apparently couldn’t run away from. Yes, he had graduated early from college, and yes, he had been extremely lucky a teaching position had opened up close enough to his parents' house, but that didn’t mean they had to undermine his efforts. He loved his career, so it was only obvious that he would work harder to achieve his goals. Now volleyball? That was entirely something else. It had always been in his blood, ever since he was a child, so for him to keep playing in high school, and later on recreationally, seemed like an obvious thing. Of course, he wouldn’t mind having someone in his life like Bo had Akaashi, but he also wasn’t rushing to find that someone. After all,  _good things come to those who wait_ _,_  isn’t that what they say? 

Kuroo looked around the shop, searching for a place to sit, when he stopped dead in his tracks. Not that he would ever admit it to anyone but himself, but the first look he got of  _him_ , with the uber cheesy yet ironically fitting song in the background, was enough to feel as if someone had reached into his chest and squeezed his heart. Mhm, maybe it was the song that was making him sound like a sap, but damn if this boy wasn’t something else.  

“I saw an angel, of that I’m sure”,  _me too James Blunt, me fucking too_. Well, if angels had blonde hair with black roots, but that was a thing for another day. The door closed behind Kuroo, which only made the little bell attached to the door tinkle. It was then that the guy looked at Kuroo; if he had thought the guy's hair was eye-catching, it had nothing on his eyes. “You’re beautiful, it's true", probably the most obvious statement someone has said in regards to the unknown café guy. Golden cat-like eyes stared at him for just a second before returning to the laptop in front of him. Kuroo was thinking about a way to pass by his seat and "accidentally" run into the chair or table, and you know, casually say sorry and say something witty that would interest the guy. No way was he going to pull a Bokuto move and say a dumb pick up line, he refused to. "Hey, man! Akaashi saved us our usual table! Thanks babe!" Kuroo turned to see where Bo was, and yes, he was at their usual table alright. The "usual table" was a few feet away from the guy, and had an available seat that would enable Kuroo to look at him. Of course, this was also convenient for Bo, since he had a clear view of the barista station, meaning a clear view of his boyfriend. It really worked for Kuroo because then Bo would be too distracted to notice just how much Kuroo would be staring at the guy seating a few feet away, or so he hoped. 

Kuroo would steal looks at the blonde every once in a while, hoping that Bo wouldn’t notice them in between their conversation. The blonde was dressed in warm clothes; a big blue fur-trimmed parka, a black and red checkered flannel, black jeans and blue shoes, along with a brown beanie that was placed on the table next to his food and the computer. The guy was eating an apple pie and had those drinks that look like they can give you a sugar comma with just a sip, sitting close to the computer. His nose was red, which made Kuroo wonder if he had just gotten here as well. Heavy bags lined his eyes and Kuroo worried for a moment if the guy was about to fall asleep on top of the food and keyboard. It was then that Akaashi came over to bring them breakfast, and Kuroo wondered just how much focus he had given the blonde for him to not remember what he had ordered.  

"Kuroo-san, if I may?", Akaashi asked.  

"Sure, sorry, let me help you with those," he replied, while taking both the cup and plate from Akaashi.  

"If you must really know, his name is Kenma, he comes here often", Akaashi looked at Kuroo, with a look that Kuroo wasn’t sure if it was pity or resignation. This, of course, took him by surprise and almost made him drop the drink. "I don't know what you- I mean, I wasn’t- um, was it too obvious? Your boyfriend didn’t seem to notice," Kuroo sheepishly said. 

"I did," Bo replied, "I was just counting how much time it was going to take you to man up and go." Bokuto had a smirk, and the only thing that stopped Kuroo from retorting something back was the possibility that the blonde had also noticed Kuroo's looks. He sneaked another look at Kenma, but he seemed to be too focused on whatever it was that he was doing on the laptop,  _thankfully_. After a few minutes of teasing from Bo, and the only idea that Kuroo could think of, Akaashi had a sweet caramel apple spice on one hand and a napkin with a hand-written note signed by Kuroo with his number on it. Both Kuroo and Bokuto saw the whole exchange between Akaashi and Kenma, who looked confused but otherwise accepted the drink with a small smile. It was then that Kuroo looked down at his watch and noticed the time,  _holy shit, we're going to be late._ Kuroo glanced at Bokuto, and as if Akaashi could read minds, he came towards them, and started picking up the dishes. "I hope you guys know that if you don't hurry up and get going you'll be late," Bo was already standing up and giving Akaashi a kiss on the cheek. "We know, don't worry, see you in the afternoon babe," he replied, and Kuroo stood up as well. Out in the cold morning once again, Bokuto kept pestering Kuroo about what he had wrote on the note until Kuroo gave up and told him.  

"Fine, if you must know, I wrote 'are you made of copper and tellurium? Because you're damn cute." Not that anybody could blame him, he had done the best he could with 5 minutes of trying to come up with a cute pick up line.  

With a boisterous laugh, Bokuto replied, "Oh god, if I was him I would throw the note away, that’s awful dude."  

"Look who's talking! Mr. 'are you a volleyball because I'd dive for you anytime'. That's even worse than mine, you should thank your lucky stars Akaashi played volleyball too otherwise you would've look like the fool you are!" Kuroo replied with an incredulous tone.  

Bokuto had the nerve to look proud of himself as he said, "But it worked, didn’t it?" 

Kuroo gave a resigned sigh, because well, it  _had_  worked. "Shut up, let's just hurry up, I have a quiz to give today" 

Kuroo was in the middle of a break in between classes when his phone chimed. He glanced at the unknown number, and was about to ignore it in case this was a dumb prank from Bokuto when he thought  _what if it's_ _Kenma_ _?_ He sucked in a breath when he read the message: _So,_ _are you like a chemist or_ _something?_  


	2. apple cheeks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If someone could teach Kuroo how to text like a normal person, that would be great thanks!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! I swore to myself that I was going to be on schedule and post weekly updates but crazy deadlines at work + one terrible flu + practices for xmas carols + one very tired Alejandra = a messy schedule for a messy girl.  
> Anyways, most of this was written in a flu-haze, I apologize beforehand for making Kuroo be the nerd he sounds like lol

_3:00_ _,_ the clock read. Three in the afternoon and Kuroo still couldn't come up with a reply to Kenma. Ever since the text this morning, he had been racking his brain amidst the sounds of pencils writing on paper, chairs scratching the floor, and footsteps coming in and out of the room as well as in the hallway. Not that it was that hard to answer a simple question like that, but Kuroo seemed to like overcomplicating anything related to the apple loving blonde. 

He began to type: "Only if you say you're a carbon sample so I can date y-",  _wait, no. That's dumb, let's not do a repeat of this morning please._

"Wow, either your sense of humor has gone downwards since becoming a teacher, or you like to make a fool out of yourself. Either way, I feel the second-hand embarrassment for sure."

"What the-", Kuroo jumped in his seat, startled by Bo's voice coming from behind him, "since when have you been standing behind me?"

"Enough time to know you  _still_ haven't replied to a certain blonde since the morning. I can't believe you didn't hear me walk up to you, weren't you the one with the cat senses in high school? Besides, what's up with that? Where you the one who took the test instead of the students or what? Take more time answering and he'll think you gave him the wrong number, you fool."

 _Oh shit, he's right._ "What do you think I'm trying to d- hey! Give it back!", he yelled, as he heard the  _whoosh_  and saw Bokuto's increasing smile. Bo typed some more, and 30 seconds later, another  _whoosh_ ensued.

"You're welcome", Bo said, as he left Kuroo's phone on the desk and started heading towards the door. Panicked, Kuroo looked at the messages Bo had send.  _Oh no._  His first message had been sent, along with Bokuto's own contribution:  _That is, if you're free this week?_

Letting out a sigh, he followed his best friend towards the door, while trying to reassure himself that it wasn't that bad of a reply, and that, if the odds were in his favor, it  _might_ actually work. 

"You know Bo, I can't believe you have the audacity to talk about second-hand embarrassment when you were the one who was drunkenly crying and yelling to everyone at the bar about how the previous night you had kissed an angel that was too pure for this world while Akaashi was sitting next to you about to faint.  _That_ was brutal, and it was barely you guys' second date, for god's sake."

"Hey! He wasn’t about to faint, and for your information, that second-hand embarrassment you're talking about? It earned me another kiss that night, so I guess I keep winning these arguments Tetsu." Bo slung his arm around Kuroo as he said this, followed by a wink in his direction and a smug face.

"Next time you call me 'Tetsu' I will wipe the floor with your face,  _Koutarou_ _._ "

"Ooooh, scary. Bring it on man, you & five guys of your choice vs me and five of my own, Saturday. Let’s see who wipes the floor with who, eh?"

Kuroo smiled, a smile that many would call just a tad bit intimidating, "Challenge accepted, you simpleton ace."

As they were close to the train station, Kuroo's phone chimed, and he froze in the middle of the street. Bo looked expectantly at Kuroo, waiting for him to read the text. 

"So? Hurry up and read it!"

"Oi! I'm trying, jeez", he began to read the text, while hearing a choir of angels singing in the background.  _Carbon sample, huh? Pretty sure I'm made out of other_ _elements_ _too_ _._ _Well_ _it's either that, or you're just a chemistry enthusiast. I'm free this afternoon, if you are too._

"Hurry up and say yes idiot, you've taken enough time to text him already. I'll let Akaashi know you're not coming over for dinner tonight. Thank your lucky stars volleyball practice was cancelled today, otherwise you would've been crying about how you weren't able to go while surrounded with volleyballs flying everywhere. Although, I think that would've consoled you a bit, but still."

_I'm both. Did you have a place in mind, or do I get to choose?_

_How about the same coffee shop from this morning? In about an hour? If that sounds good to you, of course._

_I_ _'ll be there._

Bo let out a whistle, and clapped Kuroo in the shoulder. "Look at you making decent conversation, I'm impressed."

"You know, sometimes I wish I could strangle you so my life could be more peaceful, but I know Akaashi would take revenge far too quickly for me to even enjoy my freedom from you."

"Keep lying to yourself Tetsu, you know you love me."

Kuroo grunted, "I really can't wait to make you cry on Saturday." Bokuto only grinned as they made their way towards the train.

For the duration of the train ride, and pretty much the whole half hour before Kuroo left for the coffee shop, Bokuto kept fussing over him like a mother watching her daughter go to her first date.

"I don't know if you remember this Bo, but this isn't the first time I'm going out on a date, you're worse than my mom was on my actual first date. Stop it, you're only making me nervous."

"Not gonna lie bro, I'm nervous too. This is the first time that someone hasn't made fun of your chemistry nerd side, I am shaking."

Kuroo let out a shaky laugh, because god if that wasn't true. It was the first time someone had actually know what he was talking about, which of course only made him more nervous.  _Don't mess it up Tetsurou, get your shit together._

Exactly ten minutes before the hour from Kenma's text ended, Kuroo was sitting in one of the outside tables, looking at the park in front of the café. He was in the middle of playing a game on his phone, when he heard a cough, and was greeted by the sun creating a halo-like effect on Kenma. It only helped Kuroo remember the song from this morning;  _we were right James, he is an angel._  Kuroo stood up to greet Kenma, and it would've probably looked a lot better if he didn't do that shuffle thing people do when trying to decide whether to shake someone's hand or hug that makes them look like a malfunctioning robot. Thankfully, Kenma seemed to find this funny and laughed, while taking Kuroo's hand and shaking it. 

"So, shall we sit down?" Kuroo asked, as Kenma nodded in agreement. They were joined by the waitress, and unsurprisingly, the blonde ordered an apple pie along with a caramel apple spice, which might've made him blush a little bit.  _Is this a healthy amount of sweets for a person as small as him?_  Kuroo couldn't help but worry a little bit.In the span of an hour Kuroo learned that Kenma loved video games, as in, loved them so much that that was what he chose to do for the rest of his life, hence his career as a game developer. This, of course, sounded like a sign from above to Kuroo; he loved chemistry, he became a chemistry teacher,  _a match made in heaven, am I right_?

Sheepishly, Kenma admitted that he also loved apples, especially apple pies, which was, of course, a no brainer at this point. Kuroo couldn't help but laugh, in a good way, about it, and he explained to the blonde just how fast he had noticed that little particular thing about him. Kuroo also discovered that, while he might not look like it, Kenma had played volleyball since junior high. There were moments where the silence would be prominent, but they didn’t seem like awkward silences to Kuroo. Kenma reminded Kuroo a little bit of Akaashi, they both had a stoic appearance, which he supposed looked cold and unapproachable to others, but he could see the fire in Kenma's eyes when he talked about something he found particularly exciting. He let Kenma go at his own pace, without rushing the conversation, and he liked when Kenma would reciprocate the interest and asked Kuroo questions too. It was a tad bit different than the usual dates he would go out with, but it felt like a good kind of different.

Kuroo asked him more questions about volleyball, and he found out that the blonde was a setter. "I guess I'm decent at it? There's setters far more skilled than I am." 

It was then that Kuroo remembered his talk earlier with Bo, and mentioned to him about how a couple of his friends were coming together to play a match this Saturday. He asked Kenma if he would consider going, since they needed more setters thanks to his crazy best friend and his never ending spiking practice after the matches. He laughed when he looked at Kenma's horrified expression, and was quick to add that he didn't had to deal with him, after all, they were all lucky Akaashi was there for Bo's insane practices. Kenma looked relieved and said he could, as long as no one expected him to interact too much with everyone. 

"I'm not good with people you see...", he looked a bit troubled admitting this, and Kuroo quickly reassured him that it was okay. As Kenma began to tell Kuroo about the one friend he still kept in touch with, a cellphone rang. Kenma glanced at the table and Kuroo motioned to him to go ahead.

"Right now? What happened? The whole thing? Are you sure you're not just messing up that one part of the code?" 

Kuroo could kind of see where this was going, and he motioned to the waitress that he was ready to pay. 

Kenma let out a defeated sigh, "Fine, I'll be there shortly, but I'm calling this Saturday for me."

He explained how the group he was working with for a new game was having problems with the code, and he had to make the date a short one. 

"Don't worry about it I understand, adulting and responsibilities, huh?" Kuroo said, with a smile and a small laugh.

Kenma made a funny face in return, and saw the waitress approach them. "I'll pay for it, since I have to leave on such a short notice," he said, as he extended his arm to get the check from the girl. Kuroo gently moved his hand away, and got the check from the girl. "I told you to not worry about it, I got it." 

As he was giving the check back to the girl, he saw Kenma look down and say in a low voice, "Fine, but the next one is on me."

Kuroo froze, was he seeing things? Was that-? Were Kenma's cheeks actually pink? He silently blew a kiss to the sky.  _Are you_ _there_ _god? It's_ _me, Tetsurou. I just want to_ _say_ _thank you. Have a good day._

"S-sure, shall we go then? I'll walk you to the train station, if that's okay with you."

As they began walking towards the train station, Kuroo asked Kenma about the video game he was making. As Kuroo thought, Kenma came alive, and he was excitingly telling him all about it. It was a role-playing game, "think Fallout and Dark Souls," which according to Kenma, was admittedly a bit more complicated since it had such a complex design, not only for characters, but world-building alike. They were both so engrossed in the conversation that the usual ten-minute walk to the station passed by in the blink of an eye.

As they came to a stop in front of the waiting area, Kuroo looked down at Kenma, who blushed when he looked up.

"So, Saturday...?" he said, as he slowly began to close the distance between them.

Kenma froze, and his cheeks went from pink to the red of the apples he loved so much. Thanks to the close distance, he was able to identify the different colors swimming in Kenma's eyes, which ranged from warm golds to rich ambers. As the distance kept getting smaller and smaller, Kenma's eyes fluttered shut, and in that moment, the noise from the incoming train and the people around them faded away. Everything with Kenma felt different, and he wanted to take it slow, to fully understand him, to get his trust. He wanted this to work out, and for it to not end up being a repeat of the many failed relationships from the past. He made his decision then, closed his eyes and kissed Kenma's red cold nose.

Kenma opened his eyes and stammered out an okay, as he boarded the train and waved goodbye with a warm look in his eye. As the train moved farther and farther away from him, Kuroo sped-dialed Bokuto, who answered on the first ring.

"Sooo, how'd it go?"

"Um, how fast can you get to the train station?"

"If I sprint, I can be there in five, why? Is everything okay?"

"Okay, good, I'll be waiting then," and with that Kuroo hung up. Kuroo was pretty sure he couldn't walk those 15 minutes to his apartment and up the stairs without falling face first on the floor. His phone chimed, and he expected it to be Bokuto screaming in all caps or something, instead he got something else:  _T_ _hank_ _you for today, I had a really good time. Looking forward to Saturday, remember, this next one's on me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Someone please pray for me because next chapter is a volleyball chapter so watch me obsess over Fukurodani vs Nekoma matches!  
> Also, some more characters we'll be joining them soon, one who was almost mentioned as well so please keep an eye out for that! *wink wink*

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first fic I've written, it will be updated every Saturday!  
> The biggest hug and thanks to [novocaine_sea](http://archiveofourown.org/users/novocaine_sea/pseuds/novocaine_sea) because she is an angel sent from above, thank you for all your help babe!  
> I'm on [Tumblr](http://a-altin.tumblr.com), so come scream with me about them boys!


End file.
